I usually bake panned loaves and they generally go into a 375 deg.F. oven, or 350F., occasionally up to 400F., though I've got an oatmeal bread that goes into a 325F. oven for an hour and it's one of the lightest breads in my repertoire. Contrary to popular opinion, I've found that breads that bake at high temperatures don't have the oven spring I'm used to, but then again, it just might be my oven. The front panel fall off every time I open the door and the broiler hasn't worked since an electrician came in to "fix" the thermostat.

I bake my sourdough boules with the oven thoroughly pre heated to 550f, then after the steaming is finished ( about 5 minutes) I lower it to 450F for the remainder of the bake. This gives me the perfect balance between the crust darkening and the internal temperature reaching 204F which is what I find is the perfect temperature at the end of the bake.The high temp at the beginning seems to make the bread spring much higher and faster, it jumps up seconds after it hits the hot tiles on the oven shelf.

Pan loaves of rich breads, with milk, honey, and other aditives I usually bake at 400F for the whole bake.

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